Word: samurais
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...fact, it wasn't until Dec. 6 that Brandon finally got the dreaded call. Around 2 p.m., he learned that Samurai was online, just one day after its release in theaters. In this day and age, that is a victory--which reflects how badly the studios are losing the war. That first pirate of Samurai was from a camcorder copy made in a U.S. theater on the day the movie premiered. Warner Bros. has identified the theater using tracking codes hidden in the film but declined to reveal the information, citing ongoing legal investigations. After years of resisting the hard...
...Samurai copy was posted online under the pirate logo MPT--one of the so-called release groups that upload films and have their own hierarchy. Currently, MPT also claims to have online bootlegs of Paycheck, Big Fish and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Beyond the desire to get something for nothing, serious downloaders relish the technology of pirating for technology's sake. "I'm a geek," says one Indian student living in France. "There's a thrill of it. The first movie I downloaded, it was quite a kick--it was My Big Fat Greek Wedding...
Once a movie leaks, duplicating plants begin churning out discs by the thousand. Two and a half years ago, hard copies would hit the street about a week after theatrical releases. Today they're usually out in 48 hours. On Dec. 13, a TIME reporter bought Samurai from a stall along Taweewong Road in Phuket, Thailand. "We've had Last Samurai for three days already," said vendor Nook (not his real name). At his booth, just 50 yards from an official Warner Bros. store, Samurai was available with Thai, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia subtitles. Business has improved, Nook says, since...
Piracy is so rampant in parts of Asia that even the pirates have problems with piracy. In Taipei, a copy of Samurai purchased over the phone for $1.76 features the logo "HLW production team/Production: KC" in the upper right-hand corner of the image. The group attached its pirate mark so it can police its own product, speculates Michael Ellis, vice president of Asia-Pacific antipiracy operations for the M.P.A.A. "From a criminal point of view, if someone is taking away your market share, that's a problem." (The Chinese-character subtitles were not always of professional quality. When...
...Christmas Eve, another copy of Samurai appeared online and was traced back to a screener that had been sent to Oscar voters. Since Warner Bros. gave out only VHS copies, the bootleg was not of great quality. But its existence is an embarrassment after a year of high-profile debate over the risks of screeners--a beloved industry perk. Valenti of the M.P.A.A. had pushed hard to fight piracy by banning all screeners outright. But independent studios complained the ban would penalize small movies trying to get award nominations. In December the U.S. district court overturned the ban. Last week...